Ohio sheep and lamb inventory down 3.3 percent

COLUMBUS — All sheep and lamb inventory in Ohio on Jan. 1, 2014 was estimated at 117,000 head, a decrease of 3.3 percent from 2013, according to Cheryl Turner, state statistician for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, Ohio field office.

The breeding sheep inventory, at 93,000 head, was down 6,000 head from last year. Market sheep and lambs totaled 24,000 head, an increase of 2,000 from last year. The 2013 Ohio lamb crop was 92,000 head, down 5,000 from the previous year.

All sheep and lamb inventory in the United States on Jan. 1, 2014, totaled 5.21 million head, down 2 percent from 2013. Breeding sheep inventory decreased to 3.88 million head on Jan. 1, 2014, down 2 percent from 3.98 million head on Jan. 1, 2013.

Ewes one year old and older, at 3.07 million head, were 2 percent below last year. Market sheep and lambs on Jan. 1, 2014, totaled 1.33 million head, down 2 percent from Jan. 1, 2013.

Market lambs comprised 94 percent of the total market inventory. Twenty-five percent were lambs under 65 pounds, 11 percent were 65-84 pounds, 24 percent were 85-105 pounds, and 34 percent were over 105 pounds.

Market sheep comprised the remaining 6 percent of total market inventory. The number of sheep and lambs shorn in Ohio, 80,000 head, was down 13,000 from the previous year.

Ohio shorn wool production in 2013 was 490,000 pounds, down 13 percent from 2012. The average price paid for wool in Ohio was 69 cents per pound, an increase of 9 cents from the previous year. The total value of wool was $338,000, one percent above the 2012 value.

Shorn wool production in the United States during 2013 was 27 million pounds, down one percent from 2012. Sheep and lambs shorn totaled 3.7 million head, also down one percent from 2012. The average price paid for wool sold in 2013 was $1.45 per pound for a total value of 39.2 million dollars, down six percent from 41.6 million dollars in 2012.

As of Jan. 1, there were 9,500 milk goats in Ohio, unchanged from a year earlier. The Ohio meat and other goat inventory was 60,000 head, 2,000 below the Jan. 1, 2013, count.

All goat inventory in the United States on Jan. 1, 2014, totaled 2.76 million head, down 2 percent from 2013. Breeding goat inventory totaled 2.26 million head, down three percent from 2013.

Does one year old and older, at 1.69 million head, were 3 percent below last year’s number. Market goats and kids totaled 500 thousand head, up two percent from a year ago. Kid crop for 2013 totaled 1.74 million head for all goats, down three percent from 2012.

Meat and all other goats totaled 2.28 million head on Jan. 1, 2014, down two percent from 2013. Milk goat inventory was 355,000 head, down 1 percent from Jan. 1, 2013, while Angora goats were down four percent, totaling 131,000 head.